ROCKFORD - A flash of black brought an end to a leisurely Mathias family adventure to the new White Castle restaurant in DeKalb with an explosion of twisted metal, broken limbs and terror on Christmas Eve 2011.

Authorities say that streak of black was actually a Ford Mustang.

Mark Mathias, 58, of Roscoe, saw it coming at his Dodge Caravan with his wife, Stephanie, by his side, and teenagers Jared and Taylor in the back. The sports car was out of control and hurtling toward his family at speeds estimated at more than 115 mph.

After the impact, through a haze of shock and pain, Mathias forced his eyes to stay open long enough to ask if his family was OK. His wife and children told him they were.

"I love you," Mathias told them just before he blacked out.

"Daddy!" Taylor screamed again and again at her unconscious father.

The Mathias family relived the crash Tuesday as they testified at the trial of Anthony D. Crose, 35, of Winnebago.

Crose is charged with reckless homicide in the wreck that killed his wife, Dea Crose, 33, and stepson Cole Trusler, 15. Crose and his daughter, Alexis, then 13, were critically injured.

Crose says it was an accident, not a crime, and has pleaded not guilty before Judge Brian Shore. The trial is expected to last until at least Thursday.

Dea, Cole and Alexis were ejected from the Mustang that Cherry Valley firefighters said was so mangled it was hardly recognizable when they arrived at the scene just after 3:20 p.m.

Cole was thrown beneath a guardrail. He was moaning but unresponsive with labored breathing when emergency responders reached him. Cole died later that day after being airlifted by emergency helicopter to the hospital.

Dea was dead on arrival. Alexis and Crose were critically injured. Crose was partially ejected, held inside what was left of the Mustang by his seat belt.

After telling his family he loved them, the last thing Mathias remembers is seeing a paramedic outside his window.

"I woke up nine days later," Mathias said, after spending Christmas and New Year's unconscious in the hospital.

His left leg was broken in multiple places. Also broken were his femur and hip. Both lungs were collapsed and his ankle was crushed.

His son Jared, 15, testified that his abdomen was badly hurt - with internal injuries including a ruptured spleen and lacerated kidney.

Assistant State's Attorney Renee Dehn-Miller said Crose was driving recklessly on that sunny Christmas Eve. She said when his Ford crashed into the Dodge Caravan, it hit with such force that the Mustang "popped open like a sardine can" and left "the seats contorted."

"The defendant was the only one left in the car," Dehn-Miller told jurors. "The rest had been ejected out the back window."

Page 2 of 2 - On a stretch of road that has a 65 mph speed limit, Dehn-Miller said Crose was trying to pass other vehicles at what Winnebago County Sheriff's Police investigators estimate was 124 mph when he lost control.

Crose's attorney, Debra Schafer, says that speed estimate is false. She plans to challenge what she said were the poor investigative methods used to come up with it.

What happened was a tragic example of how lives can be shattered in the "blink of an eye," Schafer said.

Crose had attempted to get away from a truck belching black clouds of exhaust when he crashed. She accused the truck's driver of dangerously and purposefully obstructing traffic.

"While this was unbelievably tragic, it was an accident," Schafer said. "It was not a crime."